Tag! You're It! Are Geolocation Services Making A Cybercase Out Of You?

Tag! You're It! Are Geolocation Services Making A Cybercase Out Of You?

Can you be certain there isn’t a cybercase file with your avatar on it, floating around in someone’s cloud drive?

You sure as heck don’t want to be featured on I Can Stalk U, which picks up where PleaseRobMe.com left off by sharing the potential havoc in broadcasting your whereabouts. I Can Stalk U purports to raise awareness about geotagging dangers by going to Twitter and stripping the geolocation data from uploaded images. That information is then listed on the I Can Stalk U website in a stream of doom.

According to research commissioned by Webroot, 52% of 1,600 respondents tagged their whereabouts with online shutter-bugging. Just a little less than half, 40%, were "aware or extremely concerned" about letting "potential burglars know when they are not at home." This raises the question: If we’re so concerned, then why do we stream our whereabouts in pretty pictures and videos for the entire world to see? Chalk it up to Wi-Fi hubris.

One thing’s for sure, the savvier technology gets in this age of mobile web 3.0, the savvier you need to be about security options. The writing is on the wall or, rather, the smartphone screen (which you’ll probably be able to project directly onto a wall or other flat surface sooner rather than later).

Although geotagging is largely a mobile fiesta, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stay vigilant about Internet security. Location-based social media sites such as Foursquare, Gowalla, SCVGNR, and Facebook all hinge on the concept of knowing and showing where you are to the world.

Remember—once photos are uploaded, they reside in a realm outside your front pocket. Even some digital cameras embed metadata into images, so be mindful of your personal photo albums and regularly scan and sweep your computer. It’s a great reminder to stay on top of all your online privacy needs, so visit Webroot’s Internet Security Center for a course of action.

Finally, while there are some instances where geotagging is cool and helpful, for example, when you want to remember location details of a honeymoon or find someone at Comic-Con, those images should be locked and loaded in a secure manner. Following are some closing tips on how to be smarter than your smartphone and make your life’s journey a little less traceable.